Daily Archives: December 20, 2010

As you know, the end of the year means year end lists. Everyone wants to give you their take on the best of 2010. Our latest “Best of 2010″ list comes from MTV.com’s Splash Page, the site’s blog for comic-related news. Rather considerately, they’ve given webcomics three whole categories:

Since Hans Rickheit decided to serialize the follow-up to his 2009 graphic novel “The Squirrel Machine” online last year, the story has been as haunting as anything the Xeric winner has produced before. Up until recently, the tale of a young girl named Dale grappling with the truth behind her isolation from her mother and father has been uncharacteristically realistic, but Rickheit has slowly been building a world of terrifying implications and mysteries outside of his panels while drawing one of the most gorgeous webcomics out there.
– Brian Warmoth

BEST NEW WEBCOMIC
“Axe Cop” by Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle
(http://axecop.com)

A true testament to the unconstrained creativity made possible by the minimal publishing barriers in webcomics, “Axe Cop” became a transcendent success in 2010, crossing over with “The Adventures of Dr. McNinja” and eventually snagging a publishing deal with Dark Horse. The concept dreamed up by a 5-year-old and drawn into life by a 29-year-old is so simple but so gobsmackingly hilarious and outrageous with its sudden twists and turns that it deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as “The Tick” and “Flaming Carrot Comics.”
– BW

BEST PRINT EDITION OF A WEBCOMIC
“Octopus Pie: There Are No Stars In Brooklyn” by Meredith Gran (Villard Books)
(http://octopuspie.com/)

Collecting the first two years of Gran’s popular webcomic about Brooklyn-dwelling roommates Eve and Hanna, “There Are No Stars In Brooklyn” not only looks great in print form, but the format offers a fresh take on the series’ continuity — specifically, how all of the serialized stories gel together into a single, fascinating story of life in New York City. With its distinctive green-hued pages and themed chapters that provide context for each story arc, the book is a great example of what the best webcomic collections strive to present: it offers a unique way of looking at the series that will appeal to new readers and longtime fans alike.
– RM